GORBACHEV ALLUDES TO CZECH INVASION

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Mikhail S. Gorbachev flew home today after alluding to the Soviet decision to end the liberalization movement of 1968.

The Soviet leader, who had avoided any mention of the invasion in speeches, touched on the issue as he met wellwishers at the airport here on the final day of his visit.

In a conversation with a young man that was included in a live television broadcast, Mr. Gorbachev said he had first visited this Slovak capital in 1969, at a time that he described as an uneasy period.

''We experienced together with you a significant period, but we went through it with dignity and honesty,'' he said. ''We have thought about what happened, we thought things over honestly. We passed through a hard school. There is no more difficult school than the school of life. We made correct conclusions. Look how far Czechoslovakia has advanced since 1968.'' The Parallel With Dubcek

Even before his visit, many Czechoslovaks had been struck by symmetries between the policies of Mr. Gorbachev and those of Alexander Dubcek in Czechoslavakia in 1968.

Vaclav Havel, the dissident playwright, had noted that Mr. Gorbachev planned no news conference in Czechoslovakia, as he had on visits to other Eastern European countries. Mr. Havel speculated that the idea was to avoid any embarrassing questions.

''What could he say if he were asked about 1968 by the Western press?'' Mr. Havel said. ''He could not deplore the reforms without casting doubt on his own aims and he could not apologize for the Soviet invasion without challenging the rationale of the present Czechoslovak Government leaders.''

Although Mr. Gorbachev held no news conference. the Soviet Foreign Ministry spokesman, Gennadi I. Gerasimov, did meet with journalists. When asked to explain the difference between the Dubcek and Gorbachev reforms, he said, ''Nineteen years.''

Mr. Gorbachev flew back to Moscow today instead of spending the night here, as he had been scheduled to do. No reason was given, but Soviet-bloc journalists said he was still suffering from a cold and wanted to be rested before the arrival of Secretary of State George P. Shultz on Monday.

Neither Mr. Gorbachev's health nor a cool drizzle prevented him from meeting with crowds here. This morning he addressed several thousand people in the city center. He walked to the edge of the crowd and talked with people as they reached out to touch him. The spontaneous enthusiasm mounted and rippled as if people were learning to cheer and were getting bolder with each attempt.

In the afternoon Mr. Gorbachev traveled by motorcade to a collective farm at Cifer, 25 miles from Bratislava, where 10,000 pigs are raised.

Several hundred people had waited for him there. He broke through the timidity of farmers, particularly when he went to inspect equipment that had been put on display. Again and again he said that friendship was the most important thing.

A version of this article appears in print on , Section 1, Page 12 of the National edition with the headline: GORBACHEV ALLUDES TO CZECH INVASION. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe